Fluid balanced valve



March 16, 1954 D R RMANY 2,572,158

FLUID BALANCED VALVE Filed Aug. 27, .1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l L@ j o F INVENTOR.

w n ...m\ m /7 I QTTOENEV March 16, 1954 D R, CORMANY' 2,672,158

FLUID BALANCED VALVE Patented Mar. 16, 1954 FLUID BALANCED VALVE David R. Cormany,

Long Beach, Calif., assigner,

by mesne assignments, to Jamieson & Gabriel,

Los Angeles,

Calif., a partnership Application August 27, 1947, Serial No. 7 70,803

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a valve construction and more particularly to a Huid balanced valve specially adapted for use in high pressure lines.

`An object of the invention is to provide such a valve assembly comprising a manually operable, piston-type valve having means adapted in closed position for receiving the inlet fluid pressure against both its front and rear faces, with the effective surface of the forward face being substantially reduced in such position so that the pressure on its opposite face retains the seated valve in sealing registration while remaining easily and immediately shiftable at will to an open position. Such a valve remains unaffected by fluctuations of pressure in the outlet ine.

A further purpose is the provision of a valve assembly of the character described containing sealing elements, exemplified by rubber O rings, which obviate the necessity of ground joint surfaces and provide a highly efficient and readily replaceable seal, especially effective in conjunction with the problem of reducing the uid contact surface of one end of the cylindrical piston above referred to.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims, the novelty consisting in the features of construction, combination of parts, the unique relations of the members and the relative proportioning, disposition, and operation thereof, all as more completely outlined herein and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, which form part of the present specification:

Figure l is a side elevational view of one form of my valve assembly;

, Figure 2 is a medial longitudinal sectional View therethrough, partly in elevation, taken along the line 2 2 of Figure 1 and showing the valve in open position;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view sim ilar to Figure 2 but with the valve closed;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing a modified construction of the piston head;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 embracing still another modication of the piston head; and

Figure 6 is a medial longitudinal sectional view. partly in elevation, of another form of my valve assembly.

As illustrated, there is provided a tubular1 housing I0 open at both ends and having a pair of outwardly projecting fianges, I2 and I4, integrally attached to its respective ends as by welding or the like. On one end of the housing an internally threaded coupling sleeve I6 is secured by means of a coupling ange I8 attached to the juxtaposed, correspondingly shaped flange I2 means of headedbolts 20 inserted through transversely aligned apertures about the periphery of the two flanges and secured therein by tighten ing nuts 22. The terminal abutment of the casing I i! against the coupling flange I 8 is tightly sealed by means of an O ring or deformable annular gasket 2s substantially circular or polygonal in cross section and seated in an annular groove formed along the inner face of the flange I il. The coupling sleeve I6 is adapted for the threaded attachment thereto of an inlet line 26, the transverse sectional area of the inlet aperture being substantially less than that of the valve chamber' 28 formed within the tube lil.

Somewhat axially spaced away from the inlet mouth, there is provided an outlet conduit afi extending laterally off from the valve chamber 28. The opposite end of the housing Il is provided with a disk shaped closure 32 secured to the adjacent housing flange I4 by means cf headed bolts 34 inserted through aligned transverse apertures, peripherally disposed about the. two plates as in the opposite flanges I2 and I8. the bolts being secured in place by interna-lle threaded attachment nuts 36. Similar to the other end of the casing I 0, an 0 ring 38 is lecated in an annular groove of the closure plate 32 so as to abut against the end of the casing I@ in sealing registration.

An annular boss 40 is centrally formed upon: the outer face of the closure plate 32, being axially traversed by an aperture within which is slidably disposed a piston rod 42 having threadedly mounted upon its inner end a piston head or plunger 44. The plunger, which is reciprocable within the chamber 28 is of such a length as to be retractable to an open position in which its rear end will abut against the inner face of the closure plate 32 and its forward end will not obstruct the outlet aperture 3i), thereby permitting unobstructed flow of fluid from the inlet line 25 through the valve chamber 28 and thence out through the lateral outlet 3Q. In this open position the plunger 44 seals off escape of fluid in the direction of the piston rod 42 by means of a pair of O rings or sealing gaskets 45 and i8 disposed in corresponding peripheral grooves, axially spaced apart adjacent the base of the plunger. Similar sealing gaskets 58 and 52 mounted within grooves of the annular boss @il so as to embrace the piston rod 42.

The outer end of the piston rod is threadedly mounted in the base of a forked connecting member 54 being secured thereon by a lock nut 56. An operating arm or lever 58 is attached by means of a transverse pivot pin Si) between the forked ends of the connection 5d, the lever 58 being fulcrumed at 62 to the outer end of a link 64 which is attached at its other end adjacent an outer edge of the closure plate 32. Accordingly it will be seen that by manual movement of the lever arm 5?, the plunger lll can be shifted from one end of the chamber to the other.

II'he piston is provided with a longitudinal channel EBS of comparatively small bore, an O ring 'it being located in a corresponding groove of the baci; face of the piston surrounding the channel so as to provide a seal against uid escaping from this end of the channel when the piston is in retracted position. when the piston is moved from its open position (shown in Figure 2) to its opposite or closed position (shown in Figure 3) adjacent the inlet end of the chamber 28, it thereby closes the outlet and liuid passing through the piston channel fifi to the rear of chamber 2ithen exerts force upon the back face of the piston @ai to hold the in closed position. Since the area surrounded by O ring adjacent the forward face of the closed piston is of smaller diameter and hence of lesser cross section plan area than that of the piston itself, the :duid pressure upon the rear surface area of the piston tid serves as a positive force for overbalance in opposition to the pressure of the inlet stream 26. Consequently the amount of manual effort required to throw the plunger in either direction will be very small, corresponding to this amount of overbalance, so that the valve is easily operated and nicely balanced for practically instantaneous manually operated movement in either direction. In its forward position, the lead edge of the piston seats against a sealing gasket or O ring 'i2 disposed along the inner face of the flange i3.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 4, the forward face of the piston is formed with a stepped, annular recess iii. A cylindrical O ring is disposed about the outer perimeter of the recess so as normally to protrude slightly above the forward face of the piston and hence upon compression to provide a sealing registration at such point between the inner side of the aperture flange it and the piston head disposed immediately adjacent thereto. An engaging cap 'lil is centered within the recess by means of an inner boss or neck fui formed of reduced diameter and seated within the stepped portion of the recess, the outer periphery of the enlarged portion of the cap being provided with a concave outer surface thereabout so as to embrace and frictionally retain the gasket 'f5 against the same. The cap is detachably affixed to the piston head by means of countersunk screws 82.

It will be seen by this construction that no groove need be formed in the wall of the flange or chamber and that the 0 ring 'it upon becoming worn may be readily replaced by merely removing the cap and inserting a new one. Again, the surface of the forward piston face which is exposed to the inlet pressure can be adjusted or changed by variations in position of such an O ring so that the amount of overbalance of the valve-that is, the difference between the exposed portions of the front and rear faces of the piston-can be adjusted as desired by employing such piston head having the 0 ring variously located.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 5, a similar cap 'f8-A is centered in an annular recess of the piston head by means of circumferentially reduced neck portion Sil-A inserted in a corresponding recess of the forward face of the piston and secured in place by screws 84. In this instance the enlarged portion of the cap V'f8-A is of corresponding diameter to the piston body and supports a generally rectangular O ring 85 at its outer edge. An additional O ring 63 is located in a groove of the piston, spaced radially outward from the shoulder recess, the ing abutting against the rear face of the enlarged portion of the cap so as to prevent the passage of fluid along the common intersection between the cap and piston head.

In Figure 6, the piston valve is shown angularly located and extending outward from the uid line so that fluid passing through the valve may continue linearly through the housing section iii-A.. The operation of the Valve is the same as in the preceding embodiments, the p-resent structure providing in some instances a more convenient and accessible mounting lever Eli-A.

While I have shown and described in some detail a presently preferred embodiment of my valve it is to be understood that various modifications may be made in the construction and operation thereof within the spirit and scope of the subsequently claimed invention.

I claim:

l. A valve for controlling the flow of uid and selectively to be maintained in either closed er position by fiuid pressure, said valve comprising a housing having therein a chamber having front and rear ends, said chamber being provided with an outlet aperture, a pistori having front and rear faces reciprocably mounted in said chamber, said rear face of said having a substantially lesser area than the area of the front face of said piston, an orifice in front end of said chamber, said front face of said piston and said front end of said chamber having annular mating seating surfaces thereon, the area surrounded by said annular seating surfaces being substantially less than the area of the rear face of said piston, a source of fluid pressure, a fluid passage between said source of fluid pressure and said orifice, a fluid passage between said source of fluid pressure and said chamber which enters said chamber at a point between said rear face of said piston and said rear end of said chamber, means slideable in said housing and connected to said piston to transmit a temporary actuating force thereto to shift the piston, whereby when the actuating force is released with the piston in closed position the piston is retained in such position by the fluid pressure on the rear face of the piston, such fluid pressure being partially but not entirely coi-interacted by the fluid pressure on the portion of the front face of the piston which is surrounded by the mating seating surfaces, and when the actuating force is released with the piston in open position the piston is maintained in the latter position by uid pressure on the entire front face of the piston, such latter uid pressure being partially but not entirely counteracted by the fluid pressure on the rear face of the piston.

2. A valve for controlling the flow of fluid and adapted selectively to be maintained in either closed or open position by fluid pressure, said valve comprising a housing having therein a chamber having front and rear ends. an outlet aperture formed in a side wall of said chamber adjacent said front end of said chamber, a piston having front and rear faces reciprocably mounted in said chamber, said rear face of said piston having a substantially lesser area than the area of the front face of said piston, an orifice in said front end of said chamber, said front face of said piston and said front end of said chamber having annular mating seating surfaces thereon, the area surrounded by said annular seating surfaces being substantially less than the area of the rear face of said piston, a source of iiuid pressure, a duid passage between said source of fluid pressure and said. orifice, a fluid passage between said source of fluid pressure and said chamber which enters said chamber at a point between said rear face of said piston and said rear end of said chamber, means slideable in said housing and connected to said piston to transmit a temporary actuating force thereto to shift the piston, whereby when the actuating force is released with the piston in closed position the piston is retained in such position by the fluid pressure on the rear face of the piston, such duid pressure being partially but not entirely counteracted by the uid pressure on the portion of the front face of the piston which is surrounded by the mating setaing surfaces, and when the actuating force is released with the piston in open position the piston is maintained in the latter position by fluid pressure on the entire front face of the piston, such latter duid pressure being partially but not entirely counteracted by the fluid pressure on the rear face of the piston.

3. A valve for controlling the new of iiuid and adapted selectively to be maintained in either closed or open position by fluid pressure, said valve comprising a housing having therein a chamber having front and rear ends, said chamber being provided with an outlet aperture, a piston having front and rear faces reciprocably mounted in said chamber, said rear face of said piston having a substantially lesser area than the area of the front face of said piston, an orice in said front end of said chamber, said front face of said piston and said front end of said chamber having annular mating seating surfaces thereon, the area surrounded by said annular seating surfaces being substantially less than the area of the rear face of said piston, a source of fluid pressure, a uid passage between said source of uid pressure and said orice, a fluid passage extending through said piston and having its openings on said front and rear faces of said piston, means slideable in said housing and connected to said piston to transmit a temporary actuating force thereto to shift the piston, whereby when the actuating force is released with the piston in closed position the piston is retained in such position by the uid pressure on the rear face of the piston, such uid pressure being partially but not entirely counteracted by the fluid pressure on the portion of the front face of the piston which is surrounded by the mating seating surfaces, and

Cil

-' front face of the when the actuating force is released With the piston in open position the piston is maintained in the latter position by :duid pressure on the entire front face of the piston, such latter iiuid pressure being partially but not entirely counteracted by the fluid pressure on the rear face of the piston.

4. A valve for controlling the flow of iluid and adapted selectively to be maintained in either closed or open position by iiuid pressure, said valve comprising a housing having therein a chamber having front and rear ends, said chamber being provided with an outlet aperture, a piston having front and rear faces reciprocably mounted in said chamber, said rear face of said piston having a substantially lesser area than the area of the front face of said piston, an orifice in said front end of said chamber, said front face of said piston and said front end of said chamber having annular mating seating surfaces ther-con, the area surrounded by said annular seating surfaces being substantially less than the area of the rear face of said piston, a source of fluid pressure, a fluid passage between said source of fluid pressure and saidorice, a iluid passage between said source of fluid pressure and said chamber which enters said chamber at a point between said rear face of said piston and said rear end of said chamber, a piston rod slideably mounted in a sealed aperture in said housing at said rear end of said chamber and integrally connected to the rear end of said piston to transmit a temporary actuating force thereto to shift the piston, whereby when the actuating force is released with the piston in closed position the piston is retained in such position by the rluid pressure on the rear face of the piston, such iuid pressure being partially but not entirely counteracted by the fluid pressure on the portion of the front face of the piston which is surrounded by the mating seating surfaces, and when the actuating force is released with the piston in open position the piston is maintained in the latter position by uid pressure on the entire piston, such latter uid pressure being partially but not entirely counteracted by the uid pressure on the rear face of the piston.

DAVID R. CORMANY.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 265,178 Swank Sept. 26, 1882 764,661 Eberhardt July 12, 1904 802,330 Schulze Oct. 17, 1905 1,100,320 Moore June 16, 1914 1,772,406 Whiton Aug. 5, 1930 2,032,302 Novotny Feb. 25, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,327 Great Britain of 1909 

